Text: SSB03073                          Text: SSB03075
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Senate Study Bill 3074

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 56.2, subsection 5, Code 2001, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    5.  "Candidate's committee" means the committee designated
  1  4 by the candidate for a state, county, city, or school office
  1  5 to receive contributions in excess of five seven hundred fifty
  1  6 dollars in the aggregate, expend funds in excess of five seven
  1  7 hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, or incur indebtedness
  1  8 on behalf of the candidate in excess of five seven hundred
  1  9 fifty dollars in the aggregate in any calendar year.
  1 10    Sec. 2.  Section 56.2, subsection 18, Code 2001, is amended
  1 11 to read as follows:
  1 12    18.  "Political committee" means either of the following:
  1 13    a.  A committee, but not a candidate's committee, that
  1 14 accepts contributions in excess of five seven hundred fifty
  1 15 dollars in the aggregate, makes expenditures in excess of five
  1 16 seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, or incurs
  1 17 indebtedness in excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in
  1 18 the aggregate in any one calendar year to expressly advocate
  1 19 the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for public
  1 20 office, or to expressly advocate the passage or defeat of a
  1 21 ballot issue.
  1 22    b.  An association, lodge, society, cooperative, union,
  1 23 fraternity, sorority, educational institution, civic
  1 24 organization, labor organization, religious organization, or
  1 25 professional organization that accepts contributions in excess
  1 26 of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, makes
  1 27 expenditures in excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in
  1 28 the aggregate, or incurs indebtedness in excess of five seven
  1 29 hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate in any one calendar
  1 30 year to expressly advocate the nomination, election, or defeat
  1 31 of a candidate for public office, or to expressly advocate the
  1 32 passage or defeat of a ballot issue.
  1 33    Sec. 3.  Section 56.4, Code 2001, is amended by striking
  1 34 the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
  1 35    56.4  REPORTS FILED WITH BOARD.
  2  1    1.  All statements and reports required to be filed under
  2  2 this chapter shall be filed with the board.  The board shall
  2  3 provide copies of all statements and reports filed under this
  2  4 chapter for a county, city, school, or other political
  2  5 subdivision with the commissioner responsible under section
  2  6 47.2.
  2  7    2.  The board shall retain filed statements and reports for
  2  8 at least five years from the date of the election in which the
  2  9 committee is involved, or at least five years from the
  2 10 certified date of dissolution of the committee, whichever date
  2 11 is later.
  2 12    3.  The commissioner shall retain statements and reports
  2 13 provided by the board for a county, city, school, or other
  2 14 political subdivision for at least three years from the date
  2 15 of the election in which the committee is involved.  However,
  2 16 statements and reports provided by the board for county
  2 17 statutory political committees shall be retained for five
  2 18 years from the date of the election in which the committee is
  2 19 involved.
  2 20    4.  Political committees expressly advocating the
  2 21 nomination, election, or defeat of candidates for both federal
  2 22 office and any elected office created by law or the
  2 23 Constitution of the State of Iowa shall file statements and
  2 24 reports with the board in addition to any federal reports
  2 25 required to be filed with the board.  However, a political
  2 26 committee that is registered and filing full disclosure
  2 27 reports of all financial activities with the federal election
  2 28 commission may file verified statements as provided in section
  2 29 56.5.
  2 30    Sec. 4.  Section 56.5, subsection 2, paragraph f, Code
  2 31 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  2 32    f.  A signed statement by the treasurer of the committee
  2 33 and the candidate, in the case of a candidate's committee,
  2 34 which shall verify that they are aware of the requirement to
  2 35 file disclosure reports if the committee, the committee
  3  1 officers, the candidate, or both the committee officers and
  3  2 the candidate receive contributions in excess of five seven
  3  3 hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, make expenditures in
  3  4 excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate,
  3  5 or incur indebtedness in excess of five seven hundred fifty
  3  6 dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year to expressly
  3  7 advocate the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate
  3  8 for public office.  In the case of political committees,
  3  9 statements shall be made by the treasurer of the committee and
  3 10 the chairperson.
  3 11    Sec. 5.  Section 56.5, subsection 5, Code 2001, is amended
  3 12 to read as follows:
  3 13    5.  A committee or organization not organized as a
  3 14 committee under this section which makes a contribution to a
  3 15 candidate's committee or political committee organized in Iowa
  3 16 shall disclose each contribution to the board.  A committee or
  3 17 organization not organized as a committee under this section
  3 18 which is not registered and filing full disclosure reports of
  3 19 all financial activities with the federal election commission
  3 20 or another state's disclosure commission shall register and
  3 21 file full disclosure reports with the board pursuant to this
  3 22 chapter, and shall either appoint an eligible Iowa elector as
  3 23 committee or organization treasurer, or shall maintain all
  3 24 committee funds in an account in a financial institution
  3 25 located in Iowa.  A committee which is currently filing a
  3 26 disclosure report in another jurisdiction shall either file a
  3 27 statement of organization under subsections 1 and 2 and file
  3 28 disclosure reports, the same as those required of committees
  3 29 organized only in Iowa, under section 56.6, or shall file one
  3 30 copy of a verified statement with the board and a second copy
  3 31 with the treasurer of the committee receiving the
  3 32 contribution.  The form shall be completed and filed at the
  3 33 time the contribution is made.  The verified statement shall
  3 34 be on forms prescribed by the board and shall attest that the
  3 35 committee is filing reports with the federal election
  4  1 commission or in a jurisdiction with reporting requirements
  4  2 which are substantially similar to those of this chapter, and
  4  3 that the contribution is made from an account which does not
  4  4 accept contributions which would be in violation of section
  4  5 56.15.  The form shall include the complete name, address, and
  4  6 telephone number of the contributing committee, the state or
  4  7 federal jurisdiction under which it is registered or operates,
  4  8 the identification of any parent entity or other affiliates or
  4  9 sponsors, its purpose, the name, and address, and signature of
  4 10 an Iowa resident authorized to receive service of original
  4 11 notice and the name and address of the receiving committee,
  4 12 the amount of the cash or in-kind contribution, and the date
  4 13 the contribution was made.
  4 14    Sec. 6.  Section 56.5A, subsection 1, Code 2001, is amended
  4 15 to read as follows:
  4 16    1.  Each candidate for state, county, city, or school
  4 17 office shall organize one, and only one, candidate's committee
  4 18 for a specific office sought when the candidate receives
  4 19 contributions in excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in
  4 20 the aggregate, makes expenditures in excess of five seven
  4 21 hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, or incurs indebtedness
  4 22 in excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate
  4 23 in a calendar year.
  4 24    Sec. 7.  Section 56.6, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code
  4 25 2001, is amended to read as follows:
  4 26    a.  Each treasurer of a committee shall file with the board
  4 27 or commissioner disclosure reports of contributions received
  4 28 and disbursed on forms prescribed by rules as provided by
  4 29 chapter 17A.  The reports from all committees, except those
  4 30 committees for municipal and school elective offices and for
  4 31 local ballot issues, shall be filed on the nineteenth day or
  4 32 mailed bearing a United States postal service postmark dated
  4 33 on or before the nineteenth day of January, May, July, and
  4 34 October of each year.  The May, July, and October reports
  4 35 shall be current as of five days prior to the filing deadline.
  5  1 The January report shall be the annual report covering
  5  2 activity through December 31.  However, a state, county, or
  5  3 city statutory political committee is not required to file the
  5  4 May and July reports for a year in which no primary or general
  5  5 election is held at the respective state, county, or city
  5  6 level.  A candidate's committee, other than for municipal and
  5  7 school elective offices, for a year in which the candidate is
  5  8 not standing for election, is not required to file the May,
  5  9 July, and October reports.  Reports for committees for a
  5 10 ballot issue placed before the voters of the entire state
  5 11 shall be filed at the January, May, July, and October
  5 12 deadlines.
  5 13    Sec. 8.  Section 56.6, subsection 2, Code 2001, is amended
  5 14 to read as follows:
  5 15    2.  If any committee, after having filed a statement of
  5 16 organization or one or more disclosure reports, dissolves or
  5 17 determines that it shall no longer receive contributions or
  5 18 make disbursements, the treasurer of the committee shall
  5 19 notify the board or the commissioner within thirty days
  5 20 following such dissolution by filing a dissolution report on
  5 21 forms prescribed by the board. Moneys refunded in accordance
  5 22 with a dissolution statement shall be considered a
  5 23 disbursement or expense but the names of persons receiving
  5 24 refunds need not be released or reported unless the
  5 25 contributors' names were required to be reported when the
  5 26 contribution was received.
  5 27    Sec. 9.  Section 56.13, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  5 28 follows:
  5 29    56.13  INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES.
  5 30    1.  Action involving a contribution or expenditure which
  5 31 that must be reported under this chapter and which that is
  5 32 taken by any person, candidate's committee, or political
  5 33 committee on behalf of a candidate, if known and approved by
  5 34 the candidate, shall be deemed action by the candidate and
  5 35 reported by the candidate's committee.  It shall be presumed
  6  1 that a candidate approves the action if the candidate had
  6  2 knowledge of it and failed to file a statement of disavowal
  6  3 with the commissioner or board and take corrective action
  6  4 within seventy-two hours of the action.  A person, candidate's
  6  5 committee, or political committee taking such action
  6  6 independently of that candidate's committee shall notify that
  6  7 candidate's committee in writing within twenty-four hours of
  6  8 taking the action.  The notification shall provide that
  6  9 candidate's committee with the cost of the promotion at fair
  6 10 market value.  A copy of the notification shall be sent to the
  6 11 board.
  6 12    Any person who makes expenditures or incurs indebtedness,
  6 13 other than incidental expenses incurred in performing
  6 14 volunteer work, to expressly advocate the nomination,
  6 15 election, or defeat of a candidate for public office shall
  6 16 notify the appropriate committee and provide necessary
  6 17 information for disclosure reports.
  6 18    2.  If a person, other than a political committee, makes
  6 19 one or more expenditures in excess of five seven hundred fifty
  6 20 dollars in the aggregate, or incurs indebtedness in excess of
  6 21 five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, in any one
  6 22 calendar year to expressly advocate the passage or defeat of a
  6 23 ballot issue, the person shall file a statement of activity
  6 24 within ten days of taking the action exceeding the threshold.
  6 25 The statement shall contain information identifying the person
  6 26 filing the statement, identifying the ballot issue, and
  6 27 indicating the position urged by the person with regard to the
  6 28 ballot issue.  The person shall file reports indicating the
  6 29 dates on which the expenditures or incurrence of indebtedness
  6 30 took place; a description of the nature of the action taken
  6 31 which resulted in the expenditures or debt; and the cost of
  6 32 the promotion at fair market value.  For a local ballot issue,
  6 33 the reports shall be filed five days prior to any election in
  6 34 which the ballot issue appears and on the first day of the
  6 35 month following the election, as well as on the nineteenth day
  7  1 of January, May, and July of each year in which the ballot
  7  2 issue appears on the ballot and on the nineteenth day of
  7  3 January and October of each year in which the ballot issue
  7  4 does not appear on the ballot.  For a statewide ballot issue,
  7  5 reports shall be filed on the nineteenth day of January, May,
  7  6 and July of each year.  The reports shall be current to five
  7  7 days prior to the filing deadline, and are considered timely
  7  8 filed if mailed bearing a United States postal service
  7  9 postmark on or before the due date.  Filing obligations shall
  7 10 cease when the person files a statement of discontinuation
  7 11 indicating that the person's financial activity to expressly
  7 12 advocate the passage or defeat of the ballot issue has ceased.
  7 13 Statements and reports shall be filed with the commissioner
  7 14 responsible under section 47.2 for conducting the election at
  7 15 which the issue is voted upon, except that reports on a
  7 16 statewide ballot issue shall be filed with the board.
  7 17    3.  A person taking action involving the making of an
  7 18 expenditure or incurrence of indebtedness to expressly
  7 19 advocate the passage or defeat of a ballot issue independently
  7 20 of a political committee shall, within seventy-two hours of
  7 21 taking the action, notify in writing any political committee
  7 22 which that advocates the same position with regard to the
  7 23 ballot issue as the person taking the action.  The
  7 24 notification shall provide the political committee with the
  7 25 cost of the promotion at fair market value.  A copy of the
  7 26 notification shall be sent to the board.  It shall be presumed
  7 27 that a benefited committee approves the action if the
  7 28 committee fails to file a statement of disavowal with the
  7 29 commissioner or board and takes corrective action within ten
  7 30 days of the action.  Action approved by a committee shall be
  7 31 reported as a contribution by the committee.
  7 32    4.  This section shall not be construed to require
  7 33 duplicate reporting of anything reported under this chapter by
  7 34 a political committee except that actions which that
  7 35 constitute contributions in kind shall be reported by the
  8  1 benefited committee.  This section shall not be construed to
  8  2 require reporting of action by any person which that does not
  8  3 constitute a contribution.
  8  4    Sec. 10.  Section 68B.2, subsection 5, Code 2001, is
  8  5 amended to read as follows:
  8  6    5.  "Candidate's committee" means the committee designated
  8  7 by a candidate for a state, county, city, or school office, as
  8  8 provided under chapter 56, to receive contributions in excess
  8  9 of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate, expend
  8 10 funds in excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the
  8 11 aggregate, or incur indebtedness on behalf of the candidate in
  8 12 excess of five seven hundred fifty dollars in the aggregate in
  8 13 any calendar year.  
  8 14                           EXPLANATION
  8 15    This bill amends provisions of Code chapters 56 and 68B
  8 16 relating to campaign finance law.
  8 17    The bill amends a number of Code sections to raise the
  8 18 current statutory reporting threshold of $500 to $750.  Code
  8 19 section 56.5 provides that unless a candidate's or political
  8 20 committee has already formally organized, they are deemed to
  8 21 have organized once the committee passes this financial
  8 22 threshold.  Every committee must file a statement of
  8 23 organization within 10 days of organization.  Code sections
  8 24 43.18, 43.67, 44.3, 45.3, and 56.5A also notify candidates
  8 25 that they must file an organization statement once they cross
  8 26 the financial reporting threshold.
  8 27    The bill also rewrites Code section 56.4, which provides
  8 28 for a five-year document retention period for reports filed
  8 29 with the board, provides that the board is the primary filing
  8 30 point for all campaign reports, and provides that the board
  8 31 will send copies of reports for political subdivisions to the
  8 32 appropriate county auditor as the local commissioner of
  8 33 elections.  In relation to this change, the bill amends
  8 34 several Code sections to remove references to filing documents
  8 35 with these commissioners.  Current Code language requires
  9  1 filing with the board only for state campaigns, and provides
  9  2 for a three-year retention period.
  9  3    Finally, the bill removes the signature requirement from
  9  4 Code section 56.5 for committees not organized in Iowa that
  9  5 make a contribution to a committee organized in Iowa.  
  9  6 LSB 5345DP 79
  9  7 jj/sh/8
     

Text: SSB03073                          Text: SSB03075
Text: SSB03000 - SSB03099               Text: SSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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